BirdKids: Max and Fang
by ElesaryAyres
Summary: The Flock settles down, but chaos still ensues. Max and Fang are 19 Iggy is 18 Nudge is 17 Gazzy is 16 Ella is 15 Angel is 14 Fax, Niggy, Gella, AngelxOC
1. Chapter 1

Fang

Saturday January 11

1:39 PM

Angel walked into the living room, where Max and I were watching television. She hit the mute button and primly sat on the arm of the couch, facing us.

"What is it, Honey?" Max asked, pulling out of my arms and sitting up.

I shot her a displeased look at her withdrawal and grabbed her hand.

Angel stifled a giggle with her hand and shot me a glance that conveyed her amusement at my possessive qualities.

"Keep it up, Angel, and the answer is no." I threatened.

She giggled again, but softly. "Sorry Fang." She apologized softly.

"What is it, Honey?" Max repeated, directing the attention back to the issue at hand.

"I want to go out on a date tonight." Her voice was soft, but sure as if she was discussing the weather and not something so appalling as her dating someone.

"You want to do WHAT?" Max shrieked shrilly, leaping her feet, eyes wide with shock.

I felt his eyes widen and begin to burn, who thought they could date Angel? No one was good enough for the little girl, and that's what she still was, a child, barely fourteen! I would kill the bastard.

"You guys don't even know him," Angel moaned, "Why do you both want to kill him?"

"Maybe because you're wearing that." Max suggested eyeing Angels peach dress, tight across her budding chest and arm then flowed down to her mid thigh. "Without leggings, in January."

"This?" Angel gestured to her clothes, "This is hot, and totally not that slutty!"

I sat up slowly, squeezing Max's hand to remind her we had to be gentle with Angel at this age. "You don't need to dress like that to look attractive, I think Max is attractive no matter what she's wearing."

Max blushed and Angel rolled her eyes. "I know," she said "I hear it in your mind all the time, even when she's dressed like that!"

"Hey now," Max said defensively, looking down at her green and gray striped shirt and light grey sweatpants.

"Besides, you and Fang were my age when you started dating."

"That was completely different." Max said.

"How?" Angel stuck her chin out.

"It- it just was, okay!" Max sputtered.

"And we both had wings.' I pointed out. "We grew up with each other, and we had no concerned adults when we were your age."

We sat in silence for a few minutes, until Max sat down with a sigh and said, "Alright, Angel, you can go but-"

"I can?" Angel hopped up excitedly.

"She can?" I muttered in Max's ear.

Max held up a finger. "On one condition."

"Of course," Angel muttered, sitting back down. "Yes?"

Max smiled triumphantly, "We all get to meet him first."

"You've got to be kidding!" Angel shouted, jumping to her feet.

I raised my eyebrows, what was the big deal about that?

Angel was aghast, though, and ran from the room, thirty seconds later the door slammed.

I turned back to Max with my eyebrows raised.

"One day, I'm gonna start making you actually ask questions." She muttered.

I smirked.

She laughed, "Just trust me, Angel's not going anywhere tonight."

"Fine," I said, throwing my arm back around her. "But we are."

She chuckled and kissed my chin. "Are you asking me out, Fang?"

I rolled my eyes and smirked. "Yeah, Maximum, I am."

Max I and I left at 6, and did as we usually did, ate at a crab shack on the water then dived and played in the bay. We had done this ever since we had settled on the gulf-coast.

We came home around nine thirty, and split up the way we usually did to get everyone together for our Saturday movie night. I went to Gazzy's room and found Iggy there too. Gazzy was examining something small and silver, but before I could tell what it was, Gazzy saw Iggy and me slipped it into his pocket. I raised my eyebrows questioningly, they got it. "It's not going to blow up, Fang, God." Gazzy said, sounding eight instead of sixteen.

"Alright, but move your asses, movie in five and last one there had to make popcorn." I said, figuring I should give Iggy the benefit of the doubt considering he was eighteen already.

We were walking back to the living room, where I could already hear Nudge and Ella arguing over movies when I heard Max shriek.

I turned and flew back up the stairs, visions of Erasers and other old threats dancing in my head. Was Max okay? She better be, because without her… I couldn't even finish the thought.

Max stood alone in Angels room, unhurt, but staring out the open window. "She's gone," Max snapped, turning around to glare at me. "Angels gone."

By now, everyone had gathered in the doorway, and I could smell popcorn burning, forgotten in the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Iggy asked, shoving his girlfriend, Nudge, behind him.

"Where's Angel?" Gazzy questioned, stepping into the room, I noticed Ella slip her hand into his, and glanced at Max. She saw it too.

"She's okay, guys." Nudge said, peering around Iggy. "She's just running late is all."

We all swung around to stare at her. "Nudge?" Max asked, dangerously soft. "Did you know about this?"

"Well," Nudge bit her lip, recognizing the voice too. Her fingers played nervously with the hem of her shirt. Iggy grabbed her hand and squeezed. "Its just her first date, and she was so excited and she really likes this guy and he has wings too and he's really sweet and its not fair that you wont let her date because you say she's too young but you guys were her age and-"

"Hold up." Max ordered her voice sharp as the crack of a whip; Motor mouth Nudge closed her mouth with a snap. "You knew that Angel, who is only fourteen, by the way, was planning on sneaking out with some strange boy who also has wings, after everything we have been through AND YOU DIDN'T TELL US?"

Nudge's lip began to wobble; the girl was tough as nails in a fight, but such a- such a teenage girl the rest of the time.

Max looked ready to explode. "I'm gonna go look for her, Gazzy, Ella, your with me. Fang, you and Iggy stay here in case she comes back." She pointed at Nudge "You, I don't even want to look at right now."

She turned and jumped out the window, Gazzy and Ella following, still holding hands. I closed the window, shutting off the flow of cold air, and looked through the glass for a moment, watching Max and the others fly out of sight, and praying to every god I could think of for Angel's safe return.

Then I turned around, the smell of burning popcorn, worse this time, wafted up the stairs. "Iggy, will you deal with that? I want to talk to Nudge for a minute."

There was a moment of hard silence, punctuated only by Nudge's soft sobs. Iggy shot a warning look in my general direction, even though his eyes wouldn't focus, it only mad it more threatening, I imagined, for people who hadn't changed his diapers. I smiled, although he could see it. Message received.

He brought her hand for a kiss and I looked away, happy for them, but God, it was still weird to see them like that, even after two years.

I waited until I heard him banging around in the kitchen before pulling her into my arm. "Shhh…" I said. "It's okay,"

I wasn't mad at Nudge, I didn't think what she did was responsible, but I knew why she did it. She was a romantic, and it was in her nature to get caught in the drama and see Angel as a Juliet, minus the ending. It was the same reason all her notebooks were still pink and decorated with sparkly stickers, and why she devoured Twilight and other teen romances.

Max knew it too, but she was angry. Angel had always been her baby, and Max didn't like knowing she was growing up. Max would have calmed down by the time she returned.

I held Angel until she stopped crying. "Thanks," she said, catching my eye and letting me know it wasn't for the tissue I handed her.

I nodded, proud of her for speaking only one word.

"I'm gonna go help Iggy."

I smiled when she left. Well, it was good while it lasted.

Iggy and Nudge went to bed when the kitchen was cleaned, but I sat up, and around one, the search party returned, dragging Angel with them.

"Not one word." Max said wearily when Angel opened her mouth. "Bed. You guys too."

She flopped down next to me with a sigh, and I pulled her against my body. "I could strangle her." She laughed helplessly. "Do you know where we found them? They were paint balling, of all things. He's a bird kid too, Fang, and he looks at her like you looked at me at that age. But he's dangerous, he pulled a knife on us." I stirred angrily at that, the knowledge that she could take care of herself not affecting my decision to hit that punk-

"But the way he looked at her…" Max continued, not all fazed by my sudden aggression "He's not going to go away. And she looked back the same way…. What are we going to do?"

I kissed the top of her head. "We are going to go to bed, and talk to Angel in the morning."

She yawned, and I remembered how young she was, still a teenager. "What would I do without you, Fang?" she asked sleepily as we stumbled to bed.

"You'll never know."


	2. Chapter 2

Fang

Wednesday January 30

1:04 pm

I enjoyed the time that Max and I spent alone together when the others were in school. The fact that these days were numbered only made them sweeter to me. (Iggy was graduating this spring, we were very proud).

Max and I stood in the kitchen, making lasagna for the kids when they came home from school. But we kept having to start over because someone (ahem, Max) was eating all the noodles before I could cover them with the meat sauce and cheese Iggy had laid out for us this morning.

"It's very simple," he'd told us. "noodles, meat, noodles, meat, cheese."

I didn't know what he was talking about simple, we were struggling here,

Something wet, warm and chunky hit my cheek. I slowly raised one finger and inspected it. "Meat sauce," I said softly, not looking at my attacker before leaping at her and pinning her to the ground.

She squealed as I dug my fingers in her sides, tickling and holding her in place as I wiped my sticky face on her yellow tee shirt with the high school logo. "Eww! Fang!" she cried, laughing.

I growled and kissed her mouth. "Your face is all sticky." I told her.

"Yeah?" she ginned, showing me the hand full of meat and tomato she had in her hand.

"Don't you dare!" I growled and tried to duck as she flung it on me. She got the side of my face and my hair.

"Oh hell no!" I cried and tickled her more, until she was giggling and breathless and begging me to stop. I grinned and continued,

"Uncle! Uncle!" she cried, and I ignored her. "Fang!" she whined, "Alright, I'm sorry you weren't fast enough to avoid-"

"My lasagna!" Iggy cried, sprinting into the kitchen. "Max! Fang!" he yelled, not knowing he was almost trampling us. "What did you do? It smells off!"

"We are right here, Ig." Max said, wiping her hands on her jeans as she stood up. "We didn't do anything!"

"Just get out." He ordered, "I'll see if I can salvage this mess." Max and I struggled to control our giggles as we left. "And shower you two! I can smell the sauce all over you!"

I laughed out loud then, and grabbed Max's hand to let it swing between us.

She was looking at me funny. I stared back.

"You're so different know," she sighed and I blinked, a bit taken aback.

"No!" she said, lifting her hand to my face "it's a good thing, really good."

We walked up the stairs and reached the bathroom. I smirked and pulled her in with me. "What are you doing?" she demanded as I took my shirt off. i gave her a meaningful look and turned the shower on.

"Oh, My God!" I heard Iggy squawk from downstairs. "I did NOT mean together!"

I chuckled and called back. "As if you could talk, we hear you with your girlfriend all the time!"

Max's eyes widened. "No we don't! They don't do that, they're way too young!"

I didn't bother reminding Max that we had been younger then them.

Pans rattled in the kitchen and I anticipated Iggy's reply more then I probably should. He was just so damn funny when I teased him.

"Nudge is my Fiance!" He hollered back.

I froze in shock. What the Hell was he talking about? Max reacted differently. "WHAT?!" she shrieked, and I winced, the sound harsh on my sensitive bird ears.

Max rushed downstairs and I followed more slowly to turn the shower off, and re-hang the photographs that she knocked down in her rush to bash Iggy's face in.

When I reached the kitchen, Max was gaping at Iggy like a fish. I gripped her hand to remind her to calm down.

"What the Hell is going on here?" I asked, "Is this a joke?"

Iggy turned with a snarl. "Don't you ever compare my feelings or Nudge to a joke. Do you understand me?"

I exchanged a glance with Max, Iggy was serious, he actually meant to marry Nudge.

The front door slammed open and Angel cried "WE'RE HO-Oh shit!"

The rest of the flock rushed in, concerned with Angel's exclamation.

Max sank tiredly into a chair. "Angel. Ella, Gazzy, go start your homework. Nudge, we need to talk."

Angel, who knew what was going on, pulled Gazzy and Ella out of the room, whispering what had happened.

Nudge stuck her chin out and crossed to Iggy's side. He gripped her hand and turned off the oven. "What's going on? Are we in trouble? Cuz we cant be, we looked online and-"

"Nudge." Max said "Shut up."

Her mouth closed with an audible snap.

"Iggy, please tell us what's going on."

"I asked Nudge to marry me two Fridays ago, when we went ice-skating, and she said yes. We wanted to tell you guys, and we figured you'd see the rings I gave her," he lifted her right hand and kissed the small diamond that I hadn't noticed before now, but seemed so big now. "But you never did, so we were planning on telling you guys tomorrow, if you hadn't already figured it out by then."

"Alright," Max said. "Is the lasagna ready? I'm hungry."

"What?" Nudge gasped, "That's it? We aren't in trouble?"

"No," Max said, "what good would that do? We can't tell you don't know each other well enough, we can't say you havn't been through enough. All we can say is congratulations." She pulled Nudge into a hug and I pounded Iggy on the back. When it was my turn with Nudge, I kissed her on the cheek and told her I was proud of her.

"LUNCH!" Nudge screamed, and we heard feet pounding down stairs, but instead of rushing the food, like they usually did, they all mobbed Nudge and Iggy.

Once everyone got food and sat around the table, Nudge stood up. "We want Max to be my Maid of Honor, Gazzy to be Iggy's Best Man, Angel and Ella to be Bridesmaids, and Fang, would you give me away?"

I am not ashamed to admit that I, Fang, tough as nails, dark as night, choked up at that. But only for a moment, and no one except Angel noticed. "Sure, I would be honored." I said, my voice level.

"Aww," Ella and Angel sighed in unison.

The rest of the day went by pretty normally, Max and I lay in the living room, watching television and pelting the kids who weren't doing homework with popcorn as they walked by. Total, Angel's talking dog, walked back and forth like a vacuum.

The only difference that I could see was that the girls were looking at wedding dresses as well as prom dresses for Nudge. But I knew everything was changing, the kids were growing up and getting married before Max and I did.


	3. Chapter 3

Fang

Sunday, February 10

12: 36 AM

Max woke me up when she screamed. I sat up at she gripped her blankets until her hands turned white. I grabbed them and held them until they softened. "Max!" I said, shaking her gently. She awoke with a sob and threw herself into my arms.

Max was the leader of this family, I helped her make decisions, but she ultimately decided everything. That was all right with me, it was the way it had always been, she was known as strong and fierce, with a sometimes-cold heart.

But I was the only one who got to see her like this; scared, crying, human. And in those moments, she needed me.

I pulled her onto my lap and rocked her until she cried herself back to sleep.

I knew what she dreamed about; Iggy and Nudge weren't only thinking about dresses and rings, they were also looking at houses. Max was terrified of the Flock splitting up again.

You know that expression early to bed early to rise? Well the flock ignored every part of it, at least on weekends, the kids had to be asleep by 11 on school nights. But on weekends, we didn't eat dinner until 10, and no breakfast until around noon, when most of the flock woke up.

Max and I were no different.

When I woke up, it was almost 12, and Max was still in my arms. I watched her breath for a few minutes, before Iggy swearing at Gazzy in the kitchen roused her. "Hey," she said sleepily, blinking up at me.

"Morning, beautiful." I replied, kissing her forehead.

"I call first shower!" she cried suddenly, leaping from my arms and racing to the bathroom. I smiled a bit and ran my fingers through my hair before pulling on a pair of jeans and a black tee shirt and heading downstairs.

"IGGY! GAZZY! GET YOUR FEATHERED ASSES IN HERE THIS INSTANT!" I yelled a second later, when I walked into what used to be our kitchen.

The entire room was covered in rubble from a whole in the wall. I recognized the signs; they had been plying with explosives inside again.

I heard them come in, but I didn't look at them. "I am going to take Max to a movie and save your asses, so you better have this cleaned up by the time we get back." I ordered, as I left the room.

Max was in our walk in closet when I got up stairs. "Lets go make out in a movie theatre." I told her, lying on my back on our bed.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, ticking her head out of the room, who wore a black and white sweater that barely covered her ass.

"Good, you're dressed, lets go." I stood up and held my hand to her.

She laughed, like she was supposed to, "I need pants, Fang." She disappeared behind the door again, this time leaving it ajar.

"No you don't! You look great."

"Tell that to every other guy who'll look." She laughed.

I frowned. "Good point. Put on a muumuu Woman."

She laughed again, and reemerged in jeans.

I opened the window and she delicately cleared her throat. "What don't you want me to see downstairs?"

I looked back, her eyebrow was raised. "Iggy and Gazzy exploded the kitchen."

"Those rat-bastards. Iggy is usually careful with his kitchen, I suppose their cleaning it while we watch that movie they all want to see."

"Exactly."

"Sweet lets go."

I enjoyed taking Max out, it was fun buying her food and holding her hand and being teenagers for a little while instead of parents.

We sat at the back of the movie theatre and spent more time kissing and throwing popcorn at Paul, a boy who had once made fun of Iggy's blindness. Iggy had knocked him out with one punch, but Max and I still felt a little mean.

Paul had taken a date, and whenever he tried to make a move, Max and I would chuck ice cubes at his head then she would duck, and I'd freeze, letting my body disappear into the seats. He would turn around with a frown, but see nothing.

Our antics were far more amusing then the movie. "Lets not tell the others that we did this." Max muttered, and I pulled her in for a kiss.

"Agreed, although we can always make them re do the kitchen if they laugh."

"How bad was it?" Max asked, tracing my lips with one finger.

I caught it in my mouth and nipped it. "Bad."

She giggled. "That tickles, Fang!" as the movie ended, and the lights flooded the room again.

Paul heard her as he stood up. He turned around and saw us, pointing one finger at us. "You!" he growled, stalking up toward us.

Max started laughing in earnest, which amused me and frustrated him and worried his date, who stood at the bottom of the stairs, biting her lip.

He crowded in the row and I stood up slowly, raising one eyebrow. Usually that and my reputation was enough to stop kids like him in their tracks, but apparently Paul was too mad to act with some semblance of intelligence.

Max was not helping; she was lying across four seats, clutching her stomach and helplessly laughing. Paul glared at her but I stepped in his way, narrowing my eyes at him. Like Hell I'd let him glower at her.

"Lets take this outside." He was a big guy, line backer on the football team, with some scholarship lined up for college, but he wasn't very smart, or fast, or as strong as I was.

"He w-w-wants to fight y-you!" Max wheezed, howling even louder. I glanced at her; she had fallen off the seats and was curled up on the floor, trying to breath.

Paul turned red with rage.

"The floors gross, Max." I frowned.

Paul took this as a sign of my distraction and tried to grab me. I smacked his hand away without even looking at him. "If my blind little brother can kick you ass, there is no way I'm going to fight you." I told him, offering my hand to Max, she took it and hauled herself to her feet. She was breathing heavily, but at least she was getting oxygen.

I pushed her toward the other aisle and followed her, leaving Paul gaping like a fish, I watched from the corner of my eye as his date rushed up to get him to leave and him through her arm off of him. She stormed out on her own and he followed slowly, shooting us venomous glares all the way.

Max's eyes were wide when we entered the house, "Is that… pizza?" she asked, sounding shocked.

I was shocked, Iggy never let us order pizza, ever. He thought it was an insult to "actual food mad in an actual kitchen." Or something like that. The kitchen must have really been trashed.

"Hey Max, Fang." Total said, lifting his face, stained with tomato, from an open pizza box on the floor.

The entire Flock sat around the table, eating from their own pizza. "There are too more in the container," Ella said, gesturing with a gooey slice.

Max and I exchanged a glance and then charged at the same time, fighting to get the first box.

I won, because I fought dirty and pulled Max's wing, but I handed her the first one anyway, like a gentleman should. "Idiot," she scoffed, smacking the back of my head. I gave a theatrical wince and Angel laughed.

"And speaking of Idiots," Max said turning around with a death glare for Iggy (who couldn't see it) and The Gasman (who didn't care). "Why is there a tarp covering my kitchen? I thought Fang told you to clean it the HELL UP!"

"_You're_ kitchen?" Iggy muttered, making the others stifle laughter, I felt my lips begin to twitch but I refused to let them, terrified I'd be on the couch if said one thing.

"Who paid for it, Iggy?" Max snapped.

"Fang." Iggy replied instantly, and every one burst into howls of laughter.

Max scowled and turned on me. I grinned, "I didn't do anything!" I reminded her. "Punish them," I turned her shoulders back to the guilty ones.

"Alright then, go to bed, all of you." They grumbled, but knew better to argue, grabbing their food. "Ah ah, no food, not until you clean Fang's kitchen."

"But Max!"

She turned to me, eyes wide and innocent, "Did you hear something?"

"I pulled her to my chest and planted my lips on hers, "Absolutely not."


	4. Chapter 4

Max

Sunday February 17

8:16 PM

"Alrighty then," I said, slapping my hands down on the table, making the silverware jump. "Who wants to clean up?"

"I cooked dinner," Iggy pointed out, like he did every night.

"I helped," Nudge added, like she did every night.

"No, you distracted," Angel muttered, rolling her blue eyes.

"Shut up!" Nudge shrieked, and I winced. _Damn that girl can shriek._

"I don't actually care about any of that," I said, "Ella, you and Gazzy can clean up." Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fang wince and shake his head and Angel grin. What did I miss?

I glanced at Ella and Gazzy, realizing for the first time just how close together they were sitting, and how they blushed whenever their eyes met.

_Well damn_, I thought, _like we need another pair of lovebirds_.

"Did you see that thing between the Gasman and Ella earlier?" I asked Fang later, when we are getting ready for bed.

"He told her he like her three days ago." Fang said, flicking off the light, "You didn't know that?"

The bed shifted as he layed down beside me. "I didn't, what else don't I know?"

He pulled me close to his side, and I could feel his smile as he kissed my temple. "Oh, loads," he teased.

I fell asleep with a smile on my face.


	5. Chapter 5

Fang

Monday, March 18

6:21 PM

"Nudge!" I heard Max shout from my perch on the top of the house. "Gazzy, Ella, Angel, Do your homework! Iggy, have you thought any more about what school you're going to?"

Iggy replied with a rude noise.

Max and I had forced Iggy to apply to thirteen colleges, and he had been accepted into five of them. He was a bit reluctant to go, since it would mean leaving Nudge behind for most of the year.

But since neither Max or I could go, we had decided that all the others absolutely did. We hadn't planned on Iggy and Nudge getting married the summer before her senior year.

"I don't have any homework!" Gazzy hollered back.

"LIAR!" Angel screamed. "Max! He's lying!"

"I got that, kiddo. Gazzy! Don't lie to me, I can still kick your ass!"

"I'll do my homework, but I'm bigger then you now!" Gazzy replied, and I winced, it was true and it bothered Max that he had grown so tall.

"Iggy, spring break is a few weeks away, if you don't know by then, we'll fly to all the schools!"

"Al of us?" Ella whined.

"Yes, all of you!"

"But-"

"No buts!"

The house grumbled to silence and a few minutes later, Max flew over the lip of the roof and settled next to me. She tossed me a soda and popped one open for herself. I wrapped one of my wings around her and we quietly watched the sun set.

"He has to go to college, Fang." Max said suddenly. "Of course I care that he and Nudge are going to be separated for a while, but we survived that, and he really needs to go, right?"

I grabbed her hand and looked at her. "You are right, Max. They all will go to college, no matter if they're married or not."

"They kinda hate us for that." Max's voice was quiet and very unlike her.

"Hey," I bought her hand to my lips, "Consider it practice for having children."

She grinned at me, "I might be all mothered out, with all this _practice_ I'm getting."

I smirked back, hiding my initial reaction; although neither of us was ready, I would like to have kids one day, and any mother other then Max was unacceptable.

But that was a problem for another day, not one I had to bring up at this moment, and ruin the peace of the sunset.

An hour later, the sun had set and Max was sleeping against my side. I heard Iggy and Nudge in the kitchen, starting dinner. I took another swig of my now-flat soda, and contemplated the angles of Max's face.

I could have lived in that moment forever, but all too soon, a dish broke and Max woke up and flew inside to scold Ella for her carelessness.

I stayed a bit later, finishing my soda and enjoying the silence.

Small wings beat the night air, drawing my attention to Angel. "Dinner will be in a few minutes," she told me, sitting in Max's vacated spot.

I looked at her for a few moments, she carefully avoided my eyes. "That's not what you came up here to tell me, was it?" I asked her softly.

Angel bit her lip. "I have to ask you something, but you have to promise not to laugh- or tell Max." she peered at me through her pale lashes.

"I promise not to laugh, but I can't promise not to tell Max, if I feel like it is something she needs to be aware of, or puts you in danger, I'm going to tell her."

Angel wrinkled her nose. "I figured."

"What is it, Angel?"

"How did- what I mean to say- well, um howdidyouknowMaxwastheone?"

"Slow down, you sounded like Nudge for a minute there. Did you just ask me how I knew I belonged with Max?"

Angel flushed red and nodded. I always forgot that she was growing up, already in high school, and there had been that thing with the boy who had wings…. "Is this about that boy?" I asked, my voice a bit harder then I'd intended.

"Yeah," Angels voice was small. "I think I love him, but I also know I'm young, but I have a lot of life experience and so does he but then I think no, I can't. And then I remember you and Max were this young when you fell in love and Nudge and Iggy, so I just don't know."

I gulped, my mind blank. When did I know that I loved Max? It seemed to me that I just always had, I didn't wake up one morning and want her, I just always had.

"Either way, I think its about time we all meet this boy." I told her. "You should invite him over to dinner, and tell Max, she might have a better answer then I do."

Angel gulped. "Are you sure you want to meet him?"

I eyed her. "Now more then ever."

"FANG! ANGEL! DINNER TIME!" Max bellowed, cutting off whatever Angel was going to say.

She gave me a lopsided grin and jumped off the roof.

I followed more slowly, wondering if I would ever survive being a father if I felt like finding this boy of Angel's and ripping his heart out.

Long after dinner, when all the kids had finished their homework and gone to bed, I watched Max prepare for bed as I pretended to read.

She glances at me from the corner of her eye. "What it is?" she asked, pausing as she combed her hair, still wet from the shower.

"You're beautiful." I told her, enjoying the way she averted her eyes and shrugged her shoulders, uncomfortable with my admiration.

"That's not what you needed to tell me." She muttered.

"I needed to tell you that." I replied honestly, the single lamp revealed the hint of red in her blond hair.

"Fang!"

I sighed. "We are having the boy over for dinner."

Max eyed me suspiciously. "What boy?"

"Angels boy, she asked me when I knew you where the one, Max, I'm scared she thinks she loves him."

"She probably does. When's he coming?"

"When he feels like dying." I growled.

Max grinned, "Get in line. I'll talk to Angel in the morning, tell her to invite him over."

"She probably already has."


End file.
